Lieping Chen is United Technologies Corporation Professor in Cancer Research, Professor of Immunobiology, Medicine (Medical Oncology) and Dermatology, Co-Leader, Cancer Immunology Program at Yale Comprehensive Cancer Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut. Prior to joining Yale, he was the faculty member at Johns Hopkins, Mayo Clinic and also a scientist in the Bristol Myers Squibb Company. Dr. Chen’s laboratory is interested in the cell surface proteins which control lymphocyte functions and also translates his laboratory findings for treating human diseases including cancer.  Dr. Chen did the first proof-of-concept study in 1992 showing that the B7-CD28 family molecules could be the targets for cancer immunotherapy by introducing B7-1 into tumor cells to enhance therapeutic immunity. In 1999, he discovered B7-H1 (also called PD-L1) molecule and subsequently demonstrated the role of PD-L1 in the evasion of tumor immunity, and established the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway as the target for cancer immunotherapy.  He also initiated and help organized the first-in-man clinical trial of anti-PD-1 antibody for treating human cancer and developed PD-L1 detection as a biomarker to predict therapy outcome. These discoveries directly led to the development of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 antibody therapy against broad spectrum of human cancers. His laboratory also discovered many molecular pathways with immune modulatory functions and their applications in human disease treatment. These discoveries led to the development of therapeutic agents in various stages of clinical trials for the treatment of human cancer.

In recognition of his scientific achievements, Dr. Chen has been awarded several honors, including William B. Coley Award (2014), AAI-Steinman Award (2016), Warren Alpert Foundation Prize (2017), Giants of Cancer Care (2018) and Richard V. Smalley Award (2020). He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences USA and a Fellow, the AACR Academy, American Association for Cancer Research.